This was the most peak contest between the two superpowers of Jin and Chu in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin Wengong's god-like operation, in one fell swoop, created a century-old cause for the Jin Dynasty, exiled for 19 years, 62 years old to sit on the throne of the Jin Wengong, deeply felt that there was not much time left for himself, ambitious he was always preparing for domination of the Central Plains.
When the Zhou royal family rebelled, he seized the opportunity to use a ruse to block back the Eastward Qin Mugong, took the lead in grabbing the banner of "King Zun", and then looked at the Chu State with a tiger's eye, and the Chu State at this time was also unwilling to be lonely, and the Chu King, who wanted to open the gateway to the Central Plains, sent the general Zi Yu to attack the Song Kingdom, and the capital of the Song State was in a hurry, and had to ask for help from the Jin Wengong.
Jin Wengong excitedly judged that the opportunity to duel with Chu Guo had finally arrived. However, the Chu state was vast and the soldiers were strong, while the strength of the Jin state was correspondingly several times worse, plus it crossed the Yellow River to fight on the outside line, which was actually in a disadvantageous position.
It is not an easy task to decide the winner of a war. To this end, Jin Wengong began his genius strategic planning, he chose two small states near the Jin state and dependent on the State of Chu, Cao Guo and Wei Guo, as a breakthrough, why choose these two countries?
Because when Jin Wengong was exiled to Weiguo, Wei Wengong, a close relative of the same ji surname, looked down on Jin Wengong's disgrace, not only did not give assistance, but also sent people to bomb Jin Wengong out of Weiguo very unashamedly, and when Jin Wengong went into exile to Cao Guo, Cao Guojun slighted him and did not say anything, and also summoned Cao Guo's doctors to the palace to visit the deformity of Jin Wengong's body like a monkey.
While this brought shame to Jin Wengong, it also gave him a sufficient reason to send troops to fight. The Jin state, which was originally a powerful country, after being governed by the Jin Wengong, the national strength had become one of the largest existences at that time, and Cao Wei, who had become a second-rate state, was not an opponent of the Jin state at all, and soon even their monarch was captured by the Jin Wengong.
As a result, Jin Wengong was given a forward base for future garrisons. At the same time, the fall of Cao Wei's two younger brothers forced the eldest brother Chu Guo to throw a rat trap, thus reducing the pressure on the capital of the Song State, and after completing the first round of strategic planning, Jin Wengong began the second step of the plan. In view of the good popularity of the Song State, and the friendship with the State of Qi in the east and the State of Qin in the west.
Therefore, Duke Wen of Jin gave the Song State a favor, and the Song State sent gifts to the Qi and Qin countries, persuading them to form an alliance with the Jin State to relieve the Worries of the Jin State when attacking Chu. Immediately after that, the Duke of Jin took out a part of the city from Cao Wei and the two countries as compensation for the Song state, so that the Song state willingly became the most solid backing of the Jin state.
After some operation, Jin Wengong had formed a powerful alliance through excellent diplomatic means, so that the king of Chu, who had always been fearless, began to fear Jin Wengong a little. So what should Jin Wengong do?
Duke Wen of Jin was ready to duel with the King of Chu, but the King of Chu was a little frightened. "After 19 years of suffering, the heavy ear has won the hearts of the people, and if you fight with it, you will undoubtedly lose." King Chu said. Jin Wengong detoured for half a day, all in preparation for the attack on Chu. If Chu Guo had retreated, wouldn't his previous efforts have been in vain?
Duke Wen of Jin, who was anxious to erect a monument, was determined to give the State of Chu a strong medicine, threatening Cao Wei and the two monarchs to either perish or sever ties with the State of Chu. In line with the principle that good men do not eat immediate losses, the monarchs of the two countries immediately made the most favorable judgment for themselves - to break off diplomatic relations with the Chu state, and the attitude was still very resolute, which could anger the Chu state.
The Chu state ordered the general ZiYu, despite the opposition of the King of Chu, to resolutely compete with Duke Wen of Jin: "If the Great King does not let me lead the army to fight the Jin, then the subject is willing to die in front of you now." And this is exactly the effect that Jin Wengong wants.
However, when Ziyu led the five-nation alliance composed of Chu, Zheng, Xu, Chen, cai and other states to march fiercely toward the Position of the Jin Army, Jin Wengong retreated without a fight, giving the explanation that it was to repay the courtesy and hospitality given by the State of Chu when he was in exile, so the Jin army retreated, that is, retreated a full 90 miles.
The Chu state, which had never paid attention to rules, thought that Jin Wengong's move was really pedantic, and could it be difficult to become the second Song Xianggong who insisted on benevolence and righteousness in the Battle of Hongshui? Therefore, Ziyu ordered all the Chu troops to be taken up and pursued the retreating Jin army, but what he did not know was that he had once again been caught in the plan of Jin Wengong.
Jin Wengong's retreat was ostensibly to repay favors, but in fact he was bound to make a sharp edge, make him arrogant and light on the enemy, and then seize the opportunity to choose a favorable battlefield for the Jin army, so as to win the initiative in the war. Zi Yu was earnest, did not see through Jin Wengong's intentions at all, and only cared about pursuing the Jin army, but he did not know that his actions invisibly helped Jin Wengong a lot.
The morale of the Jin state was stimulated by the Chu army. Because according to the international practice at that time, if one side was the monarch going through the battlefield, and the other side was the courtier as the commander, once the monarch retreated, the courtiers could not catch up, and Ziyu's move was morally untenable.
The Jin army retreated again and again, but the Chu army did not spare, and chased after them, so that all the Jin troops held their breath and had to give the Chu army some color to see, "Let's not run, as if we are all afraid of what the Chu state is," said the morale of the Jin state. However, the Chu army thought that the retreat of the Jin army was a manifestation of cowardice. Therefore, the general of the Chu army shouted: "Coward, chase me!" “
He chased all the way to Pucheng, where he found the Jin army stationed, and only then did he stop. The two sides agreed to fight a decisive battle early the next morning in Pucheng, which is now Pu County in Shandong Province. In April 632 BC, on a bloody morning in the City of Pucheng, the greatest battle in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period began, where the two superpowers of Jin and Chu presented a fierce struggle for supremacy.
At the beginning of the battle, the Jin army chose to avoid the strong and weak, covered the Jin army's horse with tiger skin, and then attacked the weakest right army of the Chu army, forcing the right army to quickly collapse, and when the slightly stronger left army of the Chu state came to the rescue, the Jin army pretended to be defeated and retreated, luring the enemy to go deeper.
When the pursuing Chu army passed through the preset ambush site, the two Jin troops that had been ambushed suddenly attacked the left army, and the Jin army responsible for enticing the enemy also suddenly turned back to counterattack the left army of the Chu army, and the left army that was attacked on three sides was defeated, while the most powerful Chinese army led by Ziyu himself saw the collapse of the left and right armies and did not even go to the rescue.
As a result, the advantages of the Chu army were gradually transformed into disadvantages, so that they were completely defeated, and the Jin army won a total victory with few victories and more victories. The history book "Chu Shijia" records that "in the Battle of Chengpu, the Jin army set fire to the Chu army, and the fire did not go out for several days." The First Battle of the Jin Dynasty was decided. Zi Yu, a proud and arrogant general of the Chu army, had no face to gain a foothold in the Chu state, and he killed himself.
Zi Yu's suicide in fear of sin made Jin Wengong feel relieved, and he meditated in his heart, and no one could stop me from dominating from then on. The Battle of Chengpu also completely changed the historical pattern at that time, the original power of the Chu State had ravaged the entire Central Plains, and the States of Qi, Lu, Wei, and Zheng had already surrendered to the Chu State, forcing the Tianzi to be once dusted.
However, after this battle, the power of the Chu state withdrew from the Central Plains, a stable military group with the Jin state as the core began to form, and the declining Central Plains culture was revived. In May after the war, Jin Wen issued a hero post and summoned Qi, Lu, Cai, Chen, Zheng, and Zhou Tianzi to hold a meeting.
Duke Wen of Jin presided over the alliance of the land, and Zhou Tianzi enfeoffed Duke Wen of Jin as "Hou Bo" and gave him the power to exercise conquest on behalf of the Zhou royal family. After only 5 years of succession to the throne, Duke Wen of Jin ascended to the throne of hegemony with undisputed strength, becoming another Central Plains overlord after Duke Huan of Qi.